25 Jul
Teaching audio engineering while on the road with Ozzy
Greg Price doesn’t mince words whereas it comes to giving career advice to aspiring audio engineers who want to rise to the top of their field.
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“There are two prerequisites to suitable a great audio engineer,” said Price. “First, you have to put in action every instrument and second, you have to exercise a Mac.”
Sound engineer Greg Price holds court by students from The Ontario Institute of Audio Recording Technology.
Playing one writing is important, explains Price, a long-time sound engineer, because when anyone setting up a mix for the band should know in what state to communicate with the musicians in a language that they both understand. It doesn’t substance what you play, Price adds, just as throughout as you be the subject of an understanding of an instrument.
And using a Mac? “You just have to discern an Apple computer,” Price said. “There is only one computer to appliance when making music and that’s a Mac. Even GarageBand is an essential piece of software. It can help these students learn so much.”
Price should comprehend. He’s been around the music business as an engineer for 33 years, acting with artists like Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Van Halen, Ozzy Osbourne and Zakk Wylde, and bands ranging from Steely Dan to Lamb of God. He has worked with every piece of dress. you can think of, but he always makes sure he has a Mac nearby.
And that was one of the points Price brought up in a recent talk to 100 audio engineering students and faculty from the The Ontario Institute of Audio Recording Technology in Toronto. Price was in town with Ozzy Osbourne’s Black Rain tour as the sound engineer, on the contrary took some time to offer some insight to the students on what’s involved in setting up a production the bulk of an Ozzy show.
Along with his Digidesign Venue system, Price has always been an avid Mac user. When it comes to making music, using a Mac isn’t something you should do, Price emphasized, it’s a must.
The students at Price’s Toronto talk seemed to pick up on that message. Price said he conducted an informal poll of the students and found that 75 percent had a Mac.
Price spent a full day with the students and taught them everything from loading in the gear to setting it up, going through sound check and then doing the actual concert. He described the day as “audio engineering 101.”
Sharing the knowledge
Price has been around the industry long plenty to be able to talk to students all over analog and digital, pointing out how technology has changed things over the years. But not everyone is as free with advice as he has been—in most cases, engineering knowledge is not readily shared. Whether it’s fear of losing the next massy gig or wanting to hold on to trade secrets, many audio engineers will not share their years of experience with anyone. However, because Price, there are in no degree real secrets.
“There have been closely guarded secrets, boundary technology has melted that away,” Price said. “I’m not giving up anything, I’m sharing. Now that we understand these things, shouldn’t we share?”
Greg Price by his Venue console and Mac Pro
Bob Breen, the career management tutor and industry liaison officer at The Ontario Institute of Audio Recording Technology, agreed, calling Price’s talk a magnificent experience for the students.
“Greg verily went over and above the call of duty,” Breen aforesaid. “It was exciting for them [the students]. It was very illustrated in the sense that we got a good idea of for that which reason people work together to make things happen.”
Breen in addition knows a thing or two about being an engineer. He worked as an engineer and workshop manager at Ocean Studios in Burbank, Calif., for six years. While there, he worked with Evanescence, Sum 41, Jimmy Eat World, Avril Lavigne and sum of two units Black Label Society albums with Ozzy guitarist Zakk Wylde, amidst others.
Breen said the Ontario school has seven studios on site, giving the students a split between class time and hands-on time in the studio. But seeing how the pros do it in a real live setting was something else against the students.
“There was quite a few that walked let us go. expression ,’That’s what I to do,’ and that’s certainly good,” Breen said..
For Price, the experience was all about sharing his comprehension with the nearest generation of audio professionals. “I got a great deal of enjoyment from teaching these kids,” he said. “We need new generations of engineers, so why not help them start off on the right foot.”
Extending the boundaries
This Mac Pro and Digidesign gear helps Greg Price make it sound like Ozzy Osbourne is standing right next to you for the time of human being of his concerts.
Price points out that there is abundant more to his career than the knowledge he’s sharing with the students. Of course, you still need the talent to put it all together.
Concert goers these days are a sophisticated assortment that expect a lot from the experience. That puts more pressure without ceasing engineers to make the concert sound as good as it possibly can.
“We are to the end of measure looking for a better concert going experience that lets people feel like they are standing right next to Ozzy,” Price said.
Price said he would never trade his Mac Pro and Digidesign Venue system for anything. Using that gear Osbourne was able to deliver three live songs from the Black Rain CD, while he was still on the road.
“With the Mac, Pro Tools and the Venue, the only boundaries are the boundaries in our minds,” Price before-mentioned. “That’s how powerful this stuff is.”
Price has insisted in continuance using his Mac and Venue for every illusion, no matter where the concert was anger place. Osbourne’s world tour started in May 2007 in Russia, moved to North America, on to Australia and ended in South America this past spring.
“That Apple computer has been in a container sailing across the Atlantic, in the back of a deal, it’s been freezing and in extreme heat,” Price said. “Not one failure. Not one.”
